Many vascular surgical procedures require that the segment of a blood vessel on which a surgical procedure is to be performed be temporarily occluded. Such procedures include the removal of interior plaque from blood vessels deposited as a result of an arteriosclerotic condition, the repair of blood vessels damaged by rupture, accidents or gunshot wounds, bypass surgery, and the like.
In such procedures, an incision in the predetermined area of the vascular abnormality is made. In the prior art, clamps, known in the medical field as "Bulldog" clamps, are used to isolate a vascular segment of interest within the area of the incision.
Bulldog clamps are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. D268523, D276461, and D278654 and are used in conjunction with a clamp applier, which is either straight or curved and approximately 21.5 centimeters in length. Bulldog clamps include a variety of separately sized and configured disposable clamps capable of applying clamping pressures in various ranges extending from 10-15 grams up to 165-175 grams.
Other hemostasis clamps and clamp introducing and applying forceps are also known under trademarks such as "Hemoclips", "Ligoclips", and "Surgiclips".
One problem encountered in the prior art is that the clamps, the clamp appliers, or forceps used to apply the clamps may interfere with the access of other instruments to a limited surgical area, which is often times delimited by a four to five inch (4.0-5.0") incision.
It is an object of this invention to provide a removable (and disposable) clamp and a means for the insertion and removal of the clamp that is useful in vascular surgical procedures.
It is a further object to provide a clamping means capable of being provided in different sizes and which clamping means is readily inserted by one instrument and removed by another in the course of vascular surgery. In this manner, the clamping means of the invention will not otherwise interfere with the area of surgical interest. Because the inserter and removal instruments are different and co-act with the clamps in different ways, the clamps can be unmistakably inserted and removed. Thus, it is a further object of this invention to provide a coherent and rationally structured surgical clamping system for vascular procedures.
These and other objects of the invention can be further understood with reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the drawings in which: